Ingredients that do not increase testosterone levels: Analysis and evidence

10 Ingredients That Do NOT Boost Testosterone

Ben BA(Hons), PGCert

There are many ingredients that are said to increase testosterone levels.

The problem being that much of this evidence based upon anecdote rather than clinical trials and thorough research.

This article looks to address some of these nutrients.

LAST UPDATED: April 2019 by Ben.

Contents show

Avoid These Ingredients

With plenty of available testosterone pills on the market claiming to boost testosterone levels, it is difficult to see past the marketing and realize what does and does not work.

One thing for sure though is that a majority of these available products (although not all) contain natural ingredients of which many can be found in a number of testosterone boosting foods.

However, a supplement provides a higher and more concentrated format which make it more convenient and palatable; eating a cup full of pumpkin seeds each day may not be your idea of heaven.

As a result, due to the natural ingredients testosterone booster side effects are minimal if not completely absent other than an increase in testosterone levels.

Whereas testosterone injections are a shot of synthetic testosterone and may come with some potential hazards.

Furthermore, natural testosterone boosters utilize ingredients that are known to stimulate your own testosterone production. Unless of course the ingredients are useless.

Many ingredients are found in supposed testosterone boosters that do not have any veritable evidence of studies and results behind them.

Many of these ingredients are very much included based on anecdotal evidence rather than hard facts, as such they are very much likely to be a waste of time and money.

Therefore, please see the list of 10 ingredients that are commonly found in testosterone boosters that are not proven to boost testosterone levels in scientific studies.

Tribulus Terrestris

If I never have to see this again I will be happy.

Tribulus is nothing but built upon a plinth of lies.

Used by Cold War era Soviet weightlifter’s as a ‘reason’ and the secret behind their success.

The real secret (although not that secret anymore) was doping.

They’re still at it today, albeit they do not use the tribulus excuse anymore, funny that.

There is no hard evidence to support its use to increase testosterone levels. [1]

5 alpha Hydroxy Laxogenin

There’s yet to be any reliable human studies that can confirm that this will increase testosterone levels. [2]

If it was to be reliable and safe, it would have been investigated much further by now, especially as there was a Russian study dating back to the 1960’s.

Maca Root

This is commonly found on many testosterone boosters, strangely, many testosterone boosters are copies of each other, obviously someone isn’t doing their research.

If they had carried out some in depth research they will know that although this may increase libido and mood it does nothing for testosterone production at all. [3]

Sarsaparilla

It has been known for athletes to take sarsaparilla due to claims of its steroid like effects, however, this is an absolute false claim as it does not raise or stimulate testosterone levels in the body at all. [4]

Chrysin

Found in many generic and carbon copies of testosterone boosting pills.

And in many ways you would be forgiven to let this one slip the net, however, this is a real case of laziness.

Initial laboratory tests suggested that this would increase testosterone levels, then the real world human tests came along and put a stop to all of those exciting thoughts. [5]

Saw Palmetto

This fatty acid has long been said to posses testosterone boosting qualities, and people believed it.

That was until the real research falsified these claims, however, companies are still trying to palm it off as an active and beneficial ingredient. [6]

Copper

Copper supplementation may be seen as an effective fat burner if the studies are correct.

However, on the flip side, it has been shown that too much copper in your diet can cause a Zinc deficiency which in turn can lower testosterone levels. [7]

Turmeric

Finding itself more popular and being included in a variety of products, yet we find this most puzzling. Why?

Well regardless to the fact that it has no link to testosterone stimulation it also has very poor bio-availability rendering it useless when ingested. [8]

Wild Yam Extract

Labeled as an ingredient to increase DHEA levels in people. DHEA is a precursor to testosterone hormones.

However, this will not do such a thing. [9]

Why did we create this list?

If most people are honest, they will not check the ingredients on the side of a bottle or carton of supplements and rely on the claims of the manufacturer or indeed the heritage of the brand.

If a product is offered from a famous bodybuilding brand people are more inclined to believe the marketing and put their trust in that item, this spans much further than supplements and is seen in other everyday items such as car’s.

Not so long ago people would scoff at a Kia or Hyundai and place their trust in a home brand such as Ford or Dodge yet as time has gone on people are starting to switch away from the big 3 after witnessing the improved reliability found in the newcomers.

Supplements have long been unregulated and are not the same as, as such manufacturers can add any natural ingredient and claim its effectiveness in promoting muscular growth and fat loss.

However, there is not a single body or organisation in place to monitor this as long as there isn’t any illegal substance present.

Therefore, it is important to research the ingredients, or rather let us do the hard work to ensure you are buying the most effective supplements available and avoiding the money pits.

We regularly trial and review the ingredients found across a wide variety of products, we use in-depth research plus personal experiences to help you steer clear of anything that we and reputable research studies do not deem as useful or effective.

What is the motivation?

Well, as keen sportsmen and lifters and after dipping our toes in researching some of the ingredients found in supplements we were looking to use.

It soon became apparent that due to the lack of regulation there was an abundant of crap available to buy at, in some cases, extortionate rates which we feel is not fair.